Shall We Dance?
by Northern-Southern Belle
Summary: Denied a chance to go to a ball, Belle convinces Rumple to dance with her in the castle. Only problem is, he doesn't know how, and she has to give him lessons, which leads to a very close encounter between the two. One-shot.


Disclaimer: Only the plot is mine.

Belle stared out of the window of the Dark Caste at the fidgety young man who tried to approach the forboding edifice, but always stepped back. "There's a man outside," She told Rumple. "I think he wants to come in. Should I go out and see?"

"No," Rumple replied. "It would be easier to just kill him. That would teach him and anyone else that I don't want to be disturbed."

"Oh, don't be silly," Belle replied. "I'm going to go see what he wants." She headed out and went to see the man, who was making another effort to come near the castle, even though looked terrified. "Hello," Belle said as she approached him. "Can I help you?"

"Invitation from the main castle," the young man choked and thrust an envelope at her before running away. Belle stared at it, feeling excitement well up in herself. It was indeed an authentic message from the main castle, with fancy gold lettering on the front. She took it inside and sat down in her usual seat by Rumple's spinning wheel to see what it said.

"Did you get rid of the young man?" Rumple asked. "Did you make it clear that he was never to come here again? Or am I going to have to use a much more forceful method?"

"I don't think you'll have to worry about him coming back," Belle replied. "He was just delivering something from the palace. The other palace, I mean. I think it's some sort of invitation." She opened it and smiled. "I was right!" She exclaimed. "They're having a ball!"

"I'm not going," Rumple grumbled. "I don't see why they would want to invite me, anyway."

"Why don't you want to go?" Belle asked. "You can cut quite the dashing figure when you want to."

"Balls involve dancing and frivolity and all those sorts of ridiculous things I don't have time for!" Rumple replied. "An evil man like me has an agenda, you know."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Belle replied with a smile. "Why is it _really_ that you don't want to go? There has to be a reason other than all this 'I'm the Dark One' nonsense."

"Well..." Rumple paused. "None of your business is why!" He blurted out. "Don't you have something to dust?"

Belle rolled her eyes and went to dust the library while Rumple continued to spin to try and calm his nerves. There _was_ a reason why he didn't want to go to the ball, but it had nothing to do with his plotting and scheming that was part of being the Dark One. The truth was that he didn't want to go to the ball because he couldn't dance, but over his dead body would he tell Belle that. He hoped that the matter of the ball was settled. but apparently, it wasn't, because when she'd finished dusting, she came back to continue the conversation.

"If you're worrying about the people at the ball giving you trouble, you shouldn't be," she said. "You're becoming a good man, Rumplestiltskin. Why don't you give other people the chance to see the man that I see?"

"What part of 'I don't want any part of it' do you not understand?" Rumple snapped. "I'm not going!"

"Well, all right!" Belle shouted back. "But if you won't let me go to the ball, can we at least dance here? You and me? Please?"

"Well, all right," Rumple grumbled, reluctantly standing up from his spinning wheel and making a couple of violins appear and play on their own. Belle smiled and took one of his hands, feeling him tense, and it got even more obvious when she put his other hand around her waist. "Are you all right?" She asked. "What's the matter?"

"N-nothing," Rumple replied. "I'm fine."

"All right," Belle replied, but when she tried to get some basic moves out of him, it was apparent that he wasn't the most able dancer. "You seem like you've never done this in your life," Belle said when she had him pause. "Have you?"

"Not really," Rumple admitted. "Cause I was doing more important things, and didn't have time for meaningless frivolities like dancing."

"Well, you're going to learn now," Belle replied. He glowered at her, but let her guide him through the steps, and slowly but surely, she had him doing a clumsy but functional waltz. "See?" She said with a smile. "You can do this!"

"I guess I can," Rumple replied. "But if you let it be known that I did this, it's back to the dungeon for you!"

"Yes, yes, yes," Belle replied with a shake of her head. "Now, can you spin me?" Rumple nodded, but lost his grip midspin and she fell to the floor. Rumple felt a momentary panic, but when she was back up on her feet, he cleared his throat and tried to look severe.

"I'm fine," she said, wiping off her skirt. "Now, let's keep going."

"I think I'm done," Rumple replied. "You go...you go and do whatever it is you do, and I'll stay here."

"Well, all right," Belle replied. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to start things up again tomorrow."

* * *

As the days went by, Belle kept giving Rumple dance lessons until he finally could get through a dance without mistakes.

"Well, that's good!" Belle replied, clapping her hands when he finished. "You finally did it!"

"Yes, I did!" Rumple replied. "I did what you want, and now I'm done."

"Can we...can we do it just one more time?" Belle begged. "This time, with the music playing? This is the last time I'll ask, I promise."

Rumple scowled for a minute, then threw up his hands. "All right, one last dance," he said. "If it will stop your incessant nagging." He zapped up the violins again.

"All right, now...put your hands around my waist," Belle reminded him. "And think fluid motion, think romance, think...being with someone you love."

Rumple heard this and chuckled. "I told you...no one has ever loved me. Not even my own wife. And what makes you think I love anyone?"

"I never said you did," Belle replied. "It was just an idea to help you dance is all." He then twirled her successfully this time, and when he pulled her to him again, their lips met. The kiss was hesitant at first, but then lingered, with the violins stopping their music and falling to the floor, due to the fact that Rumple's attention was distracted. When the kiss ended, Belle found herself looking into Rumple's wide, startled eyes.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Well, well...you got your dance, just like you asked," Rumple replied quickly. "Now, go about your business."

"Fine," Belle replied. "I'll go to my room. But you really are a fine dancer, Rumplestiltskin. And if you'd have let us go to the ball, you would have outshone everyone there." She then left the room while Rumple returned to his spinning wheel, working harder than usual to clear his mind, while he asked himself what in the world had just happened.


End file.
